John Kominoski
Dr. John Kominoski is a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Florida International University (Miami, Florida, USA). He is an ecosystem ecologist and biogeochemist who studies how changes in water chemistry (elevated dissolved nutrients, saltwater intrusion) affect the rates of organic matter processes and the net effects on carbon storage in terrestrial, aquatic, and coastal wetland ecosystems. He is also the lead PI of the Florida Coastal Everglades Long Term Ecological Research Program for which he leads research projects investigating: 1) wet and dry season dynamics on aquatic ecosystem metabolism as driven by water column depth and flocculent organic matter, 2) subsidy-stress effects of saltwater intrusion on wetland soil ecosystems, and 3) long-term interactive effects of storm-induced phosphorus loading and drought on ecosystem productivity and nutrient dynamics spanning freshwater, brackish, and marine wetlands.
Research Areas
Dr. Kominoski's research group explores various scales of organic matter processing along gradients of environmental drivers within and among ecosystems, testing two main questions: How does spatial and temporal availability of organic matter and nutrients drive autotrophic, heterotrophic, and net ecosystem productivity? How do abiotic and biotic drivers and responses to environmental changes affect ecosystem functions, specifically the loss, storage, and movement of carbon (energy) within and among ecosystems?
Education
- PhD, University of Georgia
- MS, Loyola University Chicago
- BA, Augustana College